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Australia Nickname: Land Down Under Discovery: The first people were the Aborigines, who came more than 40,000 years ago. The earliest recorded visit by white people was in 1606 by Dutch sailors. The island was called Terra Australis Incognita (Unknown Southern Land).In 1770 the British sailor Captain James Cook landed on the east coast. Britain soon began to send convicts to the new country. The convicts had to work very hard, making roads, buildings and farms. In 1851 gold was found in A.Thousands of people from different countries went looking for gold. The population grew. The land, the climate and the biggest cities: A. is the driest, hottest and flattest inhabited continent in the world.Two-thirds of A., mostly in the centre and the west, is desert. There are small hills and big dry salt lakes. Not many people live there. The interior of A. is called the Outback (väheasustatud metsik sisemaa). In the north, half the year is wet and half is dry. The only place where snow falls in A. is in the south-east and Tasmania. The highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko in the Great Dividing Range (Suur Veelahkmeahelik) near the eastern coast is 2,228 m high. Most of A.’s population lives in the south and east , where the summers are warm and the winters are not too cold. A.’s longest river is here too – the Murray- Darling, which is 2,700 km long. Tasmania is cooler and wetter than the rest of A. With high mountains, thick forests and some of the world’s oldest trees. Sydney is the oldest and biggest city. Many people know the Sydney.Opera House. The roof of this beautiful building looks like sails on Sydney Harbour. Melbourne, the second biggest city, was once the capital of A. Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are all large modern cities. Canberra – the capital, is the newest city of all. It is also different from the other cities because it is a long way (120 km) from the sea. The name is an Aboriginal word, meaning „meeting place“. The Aborigines: When British people came to A. In 1788, they gave the name Aborigines to the people they found there. They ate plants and fruits, caught animals and fish and lived in houses made from branches and leaves. They painted their bodies, sang, danced and made music. They had their own language. Thousands of Aborigines died from fighting the British or from diseases that they brought to A. White people took away their land and they had to live in special places far away from other Australians. Their life was very difficult. Nowadays the number of Aborigines has started to grow again, now there are about 160,000 Aborigines in A. In some ways their life is better, some of the land taken away from them , belongs to the Aborigines again. Animals and birds: Extrordinary animals and birds live in A. Firstly there are marsupials whose females have a pouch on their stomach for carrying their babies in it: 1. There are 50 different species of kangaroos. The red kangaroo is the biggest of them and is the Australian national animal, it appears on the Australian coat of arms. There are also grey kangaroos, tree kangaroos, rat kangaroos etc. Wallabies are smaller species.The word „kangaroo“ means „I don’t know“. Its babies are called joeys. They have powerful hind legs and large feet designed for leaping; a long muscular tail for keeping balance and a small head. They move by hopping. They feed on grass and roots and move about in mobs. They are shy and retiring by nature and in normal ciecumstances present no threat to humans. The „kangaroo crossing“ sign is to warn motorists to drive carefully and watch out for kangaroos. The collision between a kangaroo and a car is capable of killing the animal and damaging the car. Their meat is eaten. (kang banga are kangaroo sausages). 2. Everyone loves sleepy, grey koalas. After six months in a pouch baby koalas ride on their mother’s back.. They eat the leaves of eucalyptus trees and drink almost nothing. The word koala means „no water“. 3. Another marsupial who lives in A. is a wombat. They look cute and cuddly when small. But they may be agressive and attack when they are in a bad mood. They have sharp teeth and claws. That’s why they are illegal as pets in A. In the seas and rivers you can find crocodiles. The strangest animals of all are mammals that lay eggs like birds instead of giving birth to live young. But they produce milk as mammals do, to feed their young. 1. The echidna or spiny anteater is like a hedgehog. It eats ants, which it catches with its long fast tongue. 2. The platypus has a wide bill like a duck’s and a wide flat tail. It swims well. There are more than 800 kinds of birds in A. The emu is the second largest bird in the world. It cannot fly, it’s flightless, although it does have tiny wings hidden under the feathers. It is able to travel great distances, it can run at 50 km an hour. The kookaburra’s cry sounds like someone laughing. The purpose of it is to mark their territory, to greet their mates after a period of absence. They hunt mice, small mammals, large insects, lizards, small birds, snakes etc. The budgerigar is a blue and yellow bird that people keep in their homes all over the world (budgie in short). Uluru (in Aboriginal language), Ayers Rock (in English) It is an enormous rock in the middle of the desert. It is 3.6 km long and 348m high, but there are another 2,100 m under the ground. Uluru is 600 million years old and it is the largest rock of its kind in the world. Thousands of tourists come each year to walk round it and look at it. The best time to see it is at the end of the day, when its colour changes from yellow to gold, red and and then purple. Uluru is a special place for Aborigines and it belongs to them. The Great Barrier Reef (Suur Vallrahu) is the largest coral reef on Earth. It is one of the natural wonders of the world. This warm , clear, shallow ocean habitat is over !,000 miles long and is home to many animals and plants including corals, sea anemones, sea stars, fish, sea slugs, giant clams, seaweed etc. Australia’s riches: A. is a rich country and life there is good. Where does its money come from? Sheep, cattle, minerals, wheat, fruit and wine are some of the answers. 20% of the world’s sheep live in A. and 25% of the world’s wool comes from there. The meat from Australian cattle is sold to countries all over the world. Oil, silver and other minerals have made millions of dollars for A. Not everyone is happy about that because digging for minerals destroys the land. A. also grows a lot of wheat, bananas, apples etc. And sells them to other countries. And in recent years A. has been making a very good wine too. Plants:The plantlife in A. is also colourful and rich. There are 700 different species of acacias or wattle trees. The golden wattle is the Australian national flower.. They have brightly-coloured blossoms. Some of them are small desert bushes, some are tall trees. There are about 500 species of eucalyptuses which Australians call gum trees. They are among the tallest trees in the world. The word „eucalyptus“ means „well covered“. It describes the bud cap. The cap falls off as the flower opens. Nearly all eucalypts are evergreen. Their leaves are covered with oil glands. They have a habit of dropping entire branches off as they grow. Eucalyptus forests are littered with dead branches. That’s why one should never camp under an overhanging branch. Sport is an important part of Australian culture. At an international level A. has particularly strong teams in cricket, hockey, netball, rygby and performs well in cycling and swimming. A. has hosted the 1956 and 2000 Summer Olympics and several Commonwealth Games. Other major international events held regularly in A. include the Australian Open tennis tournaments and the Formula One Australian Grand Prix.